


Crave

by PerseusHuntress



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-03
Packaged: 2019-09-06 13:19:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16833409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerseusHuntress/pseuds/PerseusHuntress





	Crave

It took a lot of coaxing to get Shepard to stop. Garrus had considered just picking the damn woman up, she weighed almost nothing even in armour, but thought better of it. Whilst he could most certainly ‘stop’ her by scooping her up under his arm, he would still have to deal with the fall out of that particular action. And the Commander was not a woman to piss off, he has seen her head butt Krogan and walk away without so much as a mild head ache.

So he talked his way out of the situation, about the only thing he was still good at these days. Putting on his best pleading tone, his subharmonics keening when she refused the first time. She finally halted mid-stride when he purred her name, rolling it on his tongue dripping with not so subtle longing. Shepard turned slowly to face him her expression unreadable. Garrus did his best to mask the look of astonishment on his face, the resulting grimace was interesting, he couldn’t quite grasp how the hell that just worked. It was a dirty move on his part, but over the past two years he has learnt much about persuasion. The genuine approach failed dismally, she quickened her pace when he attempted to intimidate, so the only thing left to him was to seduce, and he was getting desperate. He fully expected her to either laugh in his face or deck him and break the other mandible, he most certainly did not expect her to respond. He would have to explain away her unanticipated response later, right now he had a job to do.

Shepard allowed herself to be herded to the nearest crate, the room was small, well protected, it would almost be nice were it not for the bodies. There were too many dead quarians when compared to the shells of geth that littered the place. He mentally lamented this senseless conflict, but soon refocused on Shepard who now sat atop the crate looking at him expectantly. He needed to be fast, as much as she needed his attention, Tali’s case was the more urgent one, the geth did not exactly tire.

He knelt by her, Shepard tried to smile but for all the bravado the pain still twisted her lips into a grimace.

“Show me” he instructed grimly.

She gingerly stretched out her left arm towards him. His heart contracted painfully, the wound was a mess, she was clearly in much more pain than she let on. The plating was ripped clean off, the tough fabric of the undersuit shred into ribbons and her pale skin a mass of gore. Garrus inhaled, the coppery smell of her blood flooded his senses, he wanted to take her far away from this place, keep her safe, but that would have been wholly inappropriate. She was his commander not his mate, as much as he wanted it, that was never going to happen, she made that plenty clear.

He took her arm into his hands, careful not to touch any of the exposed skin, his gloves were filthy with the dust and grime of Haestrom. It wasn’t a direct shot, the bullet only grazed her, but left a deep furrow in her flesh, the edges of her skin ragged and lacerated. At least he didn’t have to dig the bullet out, small mercies.

“See, it’s just a graze, I’ll live” she tried for a smile again. Garrus looked up at her sceptically, no matter how much she tried to hide it, the deep lines around her eyes were fooling no one. In another lifetime, he would have liked to sit her on his lap so she could lean against him, distract her from the pain with idle chatter, whisper nonsense to her whilst he dressed the wound. He closed his eyes and sighed, he needed to get a grip, her attentions were occupied elsewhere, and thinking about what could have been was not making the situation any better. He had to keep reminding himself that Tali waited on the other side of the ruins, and the situation was getting grimmer by the minute. 

“Oh come on, it’s really not that bad, you are being overly dramatic” she chided misreading his emotions.

“Just let me deal with it” he snapped “The geth won’t back down just from you bleeding on them profusely”

“Fine” Shepard pursed her lips, her full mouth scrunching into a tiny bow. He wondered idly what they would feel like, he longed to explore them with his tongue, taste her skin… Stop Vakarian, he thought, Focus.

“Hold still” he softened, he was about to inflict pain on her, and that was going to be unpleasant for everyone involved.

Garrus laid out the med kit and unfastened his gloves. He caught Shepard watching him with interest. He was rarely without them, being around humans required care, they were so fragile, and although he didn’t precisely have talons, his nails were sharp. He filed them but the turian physiology did not like to cooperate. He used his teeth to peel the gloves off so as not contaminate his hands. When he looked back up at her, her eyes were huge, lips parted in a soft o. He couldn’t help but smile, she looked beautiful caught off guard, her face open, unguarded, the tiny lashes of her eyes brushing her cheeks gently as she blinked.

“This is going to hurt” he murmured too focused on her eyes.

“Just do it” Shepard gritted her teeth stretching her arm out to him again.

Garrus ripped open the little packet with his teeth, extracting the disinfectant wipe.

“Breath in”

He reached for her arm, and encircled her tiny wrist with his bare fingers.

He gasped involuntarily, her skin was nothing like he’d ever expected, it was soft, warm and supple. Electricity shot through him where their skin connected, a pleasant sensation, a warm fizzle bloomed in his centre. He could feel her racing heart under his thumb resting on the even softer underside of her wrist. He couldn’t hide the look of wonder that invaded his eyes at the contact, but she was looking away from him, eyes screwed up expecting the worst at any second. It was better that way he thought, at least he wouldn’t make a fool of himself, again.

Garrus dabbed the wipe around the frayed skin with his free hand, trying to clean off most the blood before he went in for the killing blow. He could feel her stiffen when he accidentally brushed the exposed cut, his thumb moved of its own volition tracing small circles on the underside of her wrist as an apology. Her skin was unbelievably soft, he has never touched a human like this before, asari skin was coarser, turian females were only slightly more delicate than the males and the Krogan, well he has never touched a Krogan, and that was probably for the best.

Shepard’s skin on the other hand was buttery, the soft down on her arm silky, inviting thoughts totally inappropriate to the situation. Garrus tried to block them, but quickly lost the battle with his own mind. He looked up at her, the gentle curve of her neck begged to be caressed, he wondered if it would be just as delicate, he imagined her arching into his touch, a quiet sigh escaping her lips as he traced his fingers down to her collar bone…

“Garrus!” Shepard cried in pain, inhaling sharply, snapping him out of his own imagination. She was looking at him with her eyes aflame.

“Crap, I’m sorry!” he let go on her arm, which she immediately cradled to herself protectively. He could have kicked himself, lost in his own day dreams about the woman he could never have, he dug one of his nails too close to her wound, inflicting even more pain.

Shepard closed her eyes and breathed in, silently extending her arm back.

“I’m sorry” he murmured, tenderly taking her wrist again. Her fingers curled around his, his heart thundering in his chest.

“You don’t trust me anymore do you” he smiled at her trying to hide the storm raging inside.

“I trust you explicitly…” her voice was ragged “Can you just do this quickly? It’s hard to ignore when I’m still…”

He obliged, working quickly, bent over dressing the wound. She would squeeze his fingers seeking comfort from the stinging, but he did not dare to return the pressure too afraid to hurt her again. It took all of his strength not to get lost in his own mind again and concentrate on the task. Invasive thoughts battered his brain but he kept them at bay, the pain in her voice was enough to arrest them.

“You’re good to go” he reluctantly released her, the loss of her warmth sent a dull ache through him. He may never have this again.

Shepard flexed her fingers experimentally, testing the dressing. Garrus picked up his gloves when she caught his hand in hers, she lightly brushed her lips against his fingertips and smiled. 

“Thank you, I am sorry I am such a child” she laughed releasing him and scooting off the crate.

He was too numb to respond, to even get up off the floor, as she walked away he called out to her again, his voice barely a whisper. Her lips were like velvet, hot and creamy, her delicate touch sent tremor through him. He knew full well what the human gesture meant, and it sent him spinning. A fragile hope unfurled in his chest, a dull ache spilled over into a longing to hold her hand again like this. 

“You coming?” Shepard called out to him over her shoulder.

He nodded, not trusting himself to speak to her yet, he would follow her into the depth of hell if she asked, now more than ever.


End file.
